Features

The star of acclaimed British coming-of-age drama How to Have Sex, Mia McKenna Bruce, says the script by Molly Manning Walker brilliantly captures the unabashed confidence and insecurity that comes with being a 15-year-old. Video, Audio

Music lovers and performers across New Zealand share their memories and best wishes on the occasion of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's 80th birthday.

Next month Annika Pfitzinger will represent New Zealand at the World Cross Country Championships in Serbia. A huge feat considering six years ago she was confined to the couch, suffering from crippling headaches and inexplicable exhaustion. Audio

Ever considered how much plastic is in the clothes you wear? Gosia Piatek has. She's spent the last 17 years trying to eliminate plastic from Kowtow, the clothing label she founded in Wellington in 2006. Audio

Analysis: You have to hand it to the players, coaches and officials because they couldn't have delivered a better advertisement for the competition, Jamie Wall writes Video

Lewer’s exhibition What they didn’t teach me at school about the Waikato Wars has been his most difficult project, he tells Culture 101’s Mark Amery. Audio

The award recognises creatively outstanding New Zealand albums released in the past year. The 10 albums in contention for the 2024 Taite Music Prize span genres from hip hop to indie folk to metal.

"I didn't know Nirvana and they looked very wild and I was very scared to tour with them ... but they were very kind and I found that they were gentlemen." Video, Audio

Sleepy old Canberra is the scene of political and diplomatic shenanigans - and murder - in this Netflix series. Dan Slevin explains why it's worth a watch.

Habitat-printing robot birds, water-filtering sewer submarines, and flying bikes launched on waste heat thermals are just a few of the 100-plus bonkers ideas artist and industrial designer Steve Mushin is suggesting to our cities to address climate change. Audio

A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests isometric exercises like wall sitting (or wall squats) help reduce blood pressure more effectively than other forms of exercise. Audio

Big tobacco companies will be "delighted" by the New Zealand government's legislation u-turn on tobacco sales, says a World Health Organisation advisor. Audio

Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke's latest, Drive-Away Dolls, harks back to the classic screwball comedies of Hollywood's past, writes Simon Morris. Video, Audio

What is it with tall people up the front at gigs? Should morning raves replace gym sessions? Joining Culture 101 this week on Best of the Fest are writers Emily Perkins and Arihia Latham, artist Suzanne Tamaki and theatre critic Cate Prestidge. Audio

Mark Rogers showcases reggae from Trinity, John Martyn covering Portishead, classic soul from Donny Hathaway, and Dinah Washington plus a rock 'n' roll smash courtesy of Eddie Cochran.. Audio

WATCH - We have one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world yet many Kiwis say SPF products are unaffordable. Audio

In the lead-up to her 80th birthday, opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa reflects on her life and career. Audio, Gallery

Wellington sound editor, DJ and music obsessive Martin Kwok shares some of his favourite tracks of all time. Video, Audio

As private corporations invest billions in the space race, we need tighter regulation of their off-Earth activity, says British philosopher AC Grayling. Audio

"We're all working as a team in the whole district, which is quite nice." Audio

Canadian singer Allison Russell was on Joni Mitchell's Newport and Hollywood Bowl stages, stood alongside Rhiannon Giddens and Leyla McCalla for Songs of Our Native Daughters and has released two splendid solo albums. William Dart follows her career. Audio

This week, we’ve hymns that focus on peace, unity and consolation, including Make me a channel of your peace (The Prayer of St Francis), and Margaret Rizza’s In the Lord is my joy and salvation. Audio

Geneva Alexander-Marsters (aka Geneva AM) is a singer and beatmaker based on Waiheke Island. Video, Audio

As Dune: Part Two opens in cinemas this week one pair of ears will be tuning in more than most - those of Wellington based, Emmy award winning sound editor Martin Kwok. Video, Audio